Tier 1 Elite Hockey League

---------------------------------------------------------------

History of the Program - The Program first started out as Team Rocky Mountain (“TRM”) for the 2009-10 Season. TRM was formed through the alliance of four of the top northern Colorado Tier II youth hockey associations Arvada Hockey Association, Boulder Hockey Club, Hyland Hills Junior Hockey Association and Northern Colorado Youth Hockey. These four organizations came together in a joint effort to create an elite Tier I hockey program that is supported by the vast assets of the combined group.  The goal is to create and maintain a quality youth hockey experience where young people are given the tools and direction to progress to the next level of hockey.  The founding associations agree that providing a positive and healthful environment is key to the success of the organization and will produce not just better hockey players, but better people. TRM had a successful first season fielding U18, U16 and U15 independent AAA teams.  

Congratulations to the 13 former Tier I Elite Hockey League Player who were drafted by NHL organizations this past weekend at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. We are proud to have you as ambassadors of our league.

J.T. Miller, formerly of the Pittsburgh Hornets and current NTDP player, heard his name called half way through the 1^st Round with the 15^th pick by the New York Rangers. “His game is a center-man’s game, his play making is second to none” noted Gordie Clarke the Rangers Director of Player Personal.   Miller will continue his pre-NHL career with the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. The Phoenix Coyotes couldn’t pass on a talented defenseman that GM Maloney said “could easily be a top 4 defenseman in the league”. So with the 20^th pick in the 1^st round, The Coyotes selected Connor Murphy from the NTDP as well as the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets. Murphy will be playing his college hockey with the Miami University RedHawks. 

The 2^nd round saw 3 former Tier I Elite Hockey League players taken.  Scott Mayfield of the Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) was taken early in the 2^nd by the NY Islanders with the 34^th overall pick. Scott grew up playing for the St Louis AAA Blues where he developed into a top flight defenseman. Mayfield will be playing his college hockey at the University of Denver. The Chicago Blackhawks selected yet another former Pittsburgh Hornet when they called Brandon Saad’s name with the 43^rd overall pick. Saad is with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit. Sandwiched between those two picks was the Anaheim Duck’s selection (39^th overall) of goaltender John Gibson. Gibson played his youth and midget hockey with the Pittsburgh Hornets before moving onto the NTDP. Gibson was the 2011 IIHF U18 World Championship Top Goalie Award winner and recently received the Dave Peterson Award by USA Hockey which is given annually to the top goalie playing in USA Hockey. Gibson will be playing his college hockey at the University of Michigan. The picks of Miller, Gibson and Saad gave the Hornets organization 3 NHL draft picks within the first 43 selections. 

The 3^rd round featured the selection of the 2011 USHL Player and Forward of the Year, Blake Coleman. The New Jersey Devils used their pick, 75^th overall, to select the former Dallas AAA Star & Belle Tire player who recently wrapped up his junior career with the Indiana Ice (USHL). Coleman will be a teammate of Murphy at the University of Miami in the fall. Seven picks later the Los Angeles Kings selected the University of Denver’s Nick Shore with the 82^nd overall pick. Nick grew up playing his hockey with the Colorado Thunderbirds. Before arriving on the campus of Denver, Shore played for the NTDP. 

The 4^th round saw Josiah Didier being selected by the Montreal Canadians (97^th overall). Didier is also a former Thunderbird player and will be joining Nick Shore at Denver. Didier played his junior hockey with the USHL’s Cedar Rapid Roughriders.   The Calgary Flames selected  John Gaudreau with their 4^th round pick, 104^th overall. The Northeastern Huskies recruit grew up in the Team Comcast organization. Gaudreau impressed scouts with his skilled play this season as the USHL’s Rookie of The Year with the Clark Cup Champion Dubuque Fighting Saints.

The San Jose Sharks invested their 5^th round selection (133^rd) in the future of Sean Kuraly. Kuraly, formerly of the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets, is a Miami RedHawk recruit who played his junior hockey with the USHL’s Indiana Ice. With the very next pick, 134th overall, the New York Rangers selected their 2^nd former Tier I Elite Hockey League player; Shane McColgan. McColgan who currently plays for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets grew up playing for the LA Jr. Kings and is part of the increasing number of top end players who are coming out of California.

Former Phoenix Jr. Coyotes’ player Zac Larraza, currently of the NTDP, was selected with the 196^th overall pick in the 7^th round by his hometown team, the Phoenix Coyotes. The Scottsdale native will be playing his college hockey at Denver. Garrett Haar, a Northeastern Huskies recruit, was selected with the 206^th overall pick in the 7^th round by the Washington Capitals. Haar is a product of both the LA Selects and Russell Stover organizations. 

What a terrific accomplishment by all of these players to hear their names being called by NHL teams at the Entry Draft. We would like to thank everyone of them for being great examples of what the Tier I Elite Hockey League is all about. We wish them all the very best. Congrats and Good Luck!
 

Round 1
#15^th to New York Rangers: Jonathan Miller – Pittsburgh Hornets (NTDP ‘11 & North Dakota)
2011 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp Invitee
#20^th to Phoenix Coyotes: Connor Murphy – Ohio AAA Blue Jackets (NTDP ’11 & Miami – OH)
2011 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp Invitee

Round 2
#34^th to New York Islanders: Scott Mayfield – St. Louis AAA Blues (Youngstown Phantoms & Denver)
#39^th to Anaheim Ducks: John Gibson – Pittsburgh Hornets (NTDP ‘11 & Michigan)
2011 IIHF World U18 Championship Tournament Top Goalie Award Winner
2011 USA Hockey’s Dave Peterson Goalie of the Year Award Winner
2011 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp Invitee
#43^rd to Chicago Blackhawks: Brandon Saad – Pittsburgh Hornets (Saginaw Spirit – OHL)
2011 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp Invitee

Round 3
#75^th to New Jersey Devils: Black Coleman  – Dallas Stars AAA & Belle Tire (Indiana Ice & Miami – OH)
USHL Player of the Year, Forward of the Year 2010-11, 1^st Team All Star
#82^nd to Los Angeles Kings: Nick Shore – Colorado Thunderbirds (NTDP ’10 & Denver)
2011 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp Invitee

Round 4
#97^th to Montreal Canadians: Josiah Didier – Colorado Thunderbirds (Cedar Rapids & Denver)
#104^th to Calgary Flames: John Gaudreau  – Team Comcast (Dubuque Fighting Saints & Northeastern)
USHL Rookie of the Year 2010-11 and 2^nd Team All Star

Round 5
#133^rd to San Jose Sharks: Sean Kuraly – Ohio AAA Blue Jackets (Indiana Ice & Miami – OH)
#134^th to New York Rangers: Shane McColgan – Los Angeles Jr. Kings (Kelowna Rockets – WHL)
2011 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp Invitee

Round 7
#196^th to Phoenix Coyotes: Zac Larraza – Phoenix Jr. Coyotes (NTDP ’11 & Denver)
#207^th to Washington Capitals: Garrett Haar – LA Selects & Russell Stover (Fargo Force & Northeastern)

Congratulations to the Tier 1 players selected in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft. 26% (57 of the total 216 players selected) played in the Tier 1 league last seson.

Congratulations to the Tier1 USHL Futures Draft Picks

 The Tier 1 League will prove to be THE exciting example of cooperation among organizations and competitive ice hockey in the United States. 

The Tier 1 Elite Hockey League is pleased to announce the successful completion of the League-Wide Meeting recently hosted by the Chicago Fury in Orland Park, Illinois.

 The League meeting resulted in the confirmation of participating organizations from Boston in the East to Los Angeles in the West and all areas of the country in between.

Throughout the weekend, a cooperative effort was achieved among all League partners. Here are someof the League highlights for the coming season:

• Establishment of a solid League structure among all organizations;

• Establishment of a Board of Governors with representatives from all aspects of theLeague – including Girls, Boys & Midgets specific Board Members;

• Proposed Alignment and Scheduling keeping travel and costs to a minimum while enhancing player development and exposure;

• Establishment of Standing and Ad Hoc Committees and Committee Members and Chairs;

• Establishment of Playing Division Representatives (Girls, Boys & Midgets);

• Each participating organization was represented during the meeting and cast their votes in order to accomplish the above and more.

The Tier 1 Elite Hockey League is excited to move forward with the upcoming season and will make further announcements as schedules are confirmed.

April 3, 2011

By Jeff Moeller
Special to USAHockey.com

It was the matchup everyone envisioned and anticipated at the USA Hockey 14-Under Tier I National Championship game on Sunday in Hackensack, N.J. When top-ranked Belle Tire from Michigan outlasted No. 2-ranked Chicago Mission 6-5, neither team was surprised that the battle was once again decided late in the game.

Belle Tire’s Austin Kamer scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 3:36 left in the third period when he fired a shot from the left faceoff circle. The shot bounced off Mission goaltender Trey Jones and into the net for a 6-4 advantage.

But 17 seconds later, Chicago rallied back when Ryan Wagner fired a slap shot between the pads of Belle Tire goaltender Cody Gibson. The goal cut the lead to 6-5 and ignited the Mission for the final three minutes.

Earlier, the game was also intense. Belle Tire moved out to a 4-2 lead in the second period before Chicago rallied for two goals in the final three minutes to tie the game.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Belle Tire players couldn’t jump on top of each other in celebration soon enough, while the Chicago team’s persona came to a sudden halt. Belle Tire had won its fourth contest against its rival, tying one in the process. They had earlier defeated Chicago 6-2 in the quarterfinal round on Friday.

“In the final moments, the possibility of wining a national championship finally hit me,” said Darby Llewllyn, who had two goals on the day, including the goal that broke the 4-4 tie. “I was also happy to finally see the puck go in the net as I was working really hard all weekend.

“We have been going back and forth with them all year. But I felt a lot more calm knowing that we beat them a few days ago. This is the biggest moment for me and my family because my brother got to a national championship game a few times and didn’t win it.”

“We always have a high-scoring game with these guys,” said Gibson, who recorded 19 saves. “This has been a rivalry with them the whole year. It was busy in front of me, but our defense did a good job. We beat them earlier and it gave us some added momentum for the rest of the tournament.”

It was also a sign of relief and joy for head coach Joe Smaza, who is in his fifth year behind the Belle Tire bench.

“It felt like the clock couldn’t have moved any slower,” Smaza said. “We put this team together a year ago and all of the hard work paid off. This was basically the same group we had last year.”

Yet, Smaza downplayed the triumph over Chicago.

“No, it wasn’t,” said Smaza when asked if the victory had any added significance. “The reason it might have been sweeter was because we were ranked number one and they were number two. We were fortunate enough to beat them earlier. We were just hoping to get out there, get a lead and hold momentum.”

Smaza was proud of his players and his goalie.

“Cody Gibson is one of the best goalies in the country,” he said. “He played in the semifinal game for us and we had confidence in him. Cody has some strong defensive play in front of him and we added some timely goals. It was a true team effort.”

Despite the loss, the Mission appreciated the play of its rival.

“It is a good, healthy rivalry between us,” Mission assistant coach Bob Nardella said. “We went to the max and that is quite an accomplishment. This team has a lot to be proud of. It was a good team that became better.”

Yes Tier 1 Hockey is still thriving and moving forward. We have not changed our goals, or the way we achieve them. We still want to move all of our players on to the next level of hockey and based on the results we have had for the last few years our program works. Most of our showcases are held on holidays to keep our players (boys & girls) number of missed days of school to a minimum. We are constantly looking for the right place to hold our showcases, different places assure them of being looked at by different scouts, and more opportunities to move on. Our Boston organization is one of the best places to hold showcases as large numbers of Eastern University's and junior programs attend these.Ihave included a list from a Boston Showcase as an example of the quality and quantity of scouts we attract.

We now have Midget Major, Midget Minor and 19U Girls individual team rosters and team contact information in printable format available on the website.  Scouts, now you can print your rosters prior to arriving at the showcase if you choose.

Click "Player Roster" on the left side nav bar.  All 3 levels will appear, choose which level you are interested and rosters will appear by team. 

The rosters will be updated throughout the season.  We will have the most updated versions available here on the site.